United flight returns to airport after passenger spotted texting about hijacking aircraft

The aircraft landed safely, according to Fox 5 Las Vegas, with no injuries reported among its 150 passengers and six crew members.Follow us on GoogleA United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane lands at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) using the River Visual approach to Runway 19 on August 5, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia; Illustrative.(photo credit: Al Drago/Getty Images)OCTOBER 26, 2026 20:00A United Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Newark returned to Harry Reid Airport on Saturday after a crew member spotted a passenger sending text messages saying he intended to hijack the aircraft, according to the online aviation publication Simple Flying.The report cited air traffic control (ATC) recordings shared on X/Twitter showing the passenger was unaware of the emergency return to the airport, where law enforcement was waiting for him.The pilot of United flight 1681, operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8, can be heard in the recording saying that the cockpit went into "lockdown" following the report from the flight attendant about the threat, which Simple Flying reported occured shortly after departure.The incident comes less than a month after the October 1 attempted hijacking of flydubai Flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv by one of the pilots, Omani national Hamam al Hamami, who repeatedly struck the captain with an axe before being subdued by several Israeli passengers on board.On Wednesday, the Transportation Ministry notified United that it had barred entry to Israel for one of its pilots over his Iran sympathies as the country tightens its foreign crew background check measures following the flydubai incident.A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 departs from Harry Reid Airport with the Wynn Las Vegas and Encore resort and casino and Sphere in the background on March 15, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (credit: Kevin Carter/Getty Images)Regarding Saturday's incident, Simple Flying noted that the United aircraft's squawk code changed to 7700, signaling a general emergency, before it diverted. This differs from the hijack code, which is 7500.In addition, the flight's return required a longer-than-standard route to burn off excess fuel, as the MAX 8 lacks fuel-dump capability and had tanks filled for its intended flight to Newark Liberty Airport, resulting in an overweight condition for an early landing.Pilot advises ATC aircraft may need full runway length due to weight issueAs an added precaution, the pilot advised ATC that they may need the entirety of Runway 26L to land safely even after burning fuel, according to Simple Flying.According to the published FAA airport diagram, Harry Reid Airport's Runway 26L is 10,526 feet (3,208 meters) long, more than 2,000 feet (610 meters) longer than the maximum landing length listed in the aircraft's official performance charts, even with maximum weight and wet runway conditions.It was not immediately clear why the pilot did not select parallel Runway 26R, which the diagram shows as nearly 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) longer than 26L, for added redundancy.No injuries reported in incident; FAA to investigateThe aircraft landed safely despite the weight issues, according to Fox 5 Las Vegas, with no injuries reported among its 150 passengers and six crew members.The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a preliminary statement that it intends to investigate the incident, and United told Fox 5 that the flight departed for Newark again on Sunday following the "potential security concern."Fox 5 reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for comment, but it did not respond at the time of writing.Udi Etzion and Amit Avitan contributed to this report.Follow us on Google